Knowledgebase
Leaves falling off Japanese Plum Tree #587504
Asked August 08, 2019, 5:44 PM EDT
I have attached photos of what I believe is a Japanese Plum Tree in my front yard. There are several trees like it in my neighborhood and all look healthy. It did produce plums recently but then the leaves started drying out and falling off mostly on the West side of the tree. In the month of April my neighbors added artificial turf (as seen in the photo) in May we also added the same turf and many rose bushes in the area near this tree. The landscaping company added drip irrigation to all the new plants and to the existing trees. I have lived in this house 2 years but it was built 20 years ago so the trees may have been planted at that time. I changed the 4 drip heads to small spray heads around the tree and have been hand watering occasionally. When my neighbors had a grass lawn the tree received water from their lawn spray heads. Any assistance will be appreciated.
Clark County Nevada
Expert Response
We've received your email and the pictures of your plum tree. (Just an f.y.i., it appears to be a purple plum, not a Japanese plum). Names aside, you seem to have three separate issues, 1) The watering has changed because the tree was receiving water from, not only your yard, but from the neighbor's yard as well and those sources have been radically altered by the installation of artificial turf. 2) The tree is surrounded by rocks. Rocks should never be placed around the base of a tree. As the weather heats up, so do the rocks and that excess heat is transmitted directly into the ground and into the tree roots. If you want to use rocks around your plants, it is best to leave a wide ring of bare earth close to the base of the plant. 3) If that tree is anywhere in the vicinity of 20 years old, it is probably at the end of its life cycle.
We don't have any really good suggestions as to how to save the tree at this point. The best suggestion we can make is to adjust the watering so it covers the entire width of the canopy (the top of the tree at its widest point), pull the rocks away from the base by at least two feet and hope for the best.
